Take-Two Will Release 2 New Franchises By March 2022 Among 4 Core Releases

Today Take-Two Interactive Software announced its financial results for the fiscal year 2021, which ended on March 31, 2021.

Below you can check out a summary of the company’s performance.

• GAAP Net revenue grew 9% to $3.373 billion
• GAAP Net income increased 46% to $588.9 million or $5.09 per diluted share
• GAAP Net cash provided by operating activities was $912.3 million
• Adjusted Unrestricted Operating Cash Flow (Non-GAAP) was $920.3 million
• Net Bookings grew 19% to $3.553 billion

The press release also included a comment from Chief Executive Officer Strauss Zelnick, who boasted record operating results and announced that the fiscal year 2022 (between April 2021 and March 2022) the publisher will launch four “core releases” of which two from new franchises.

On top of that, the company has “many” new releases planned for the following two years.

“Our strong fourth quarter results concluded an exceptional year for our organization. We delivered record operating results, including Net Bookings of approximately $3.6 billion and Adjusted Unrestricted Operating Cash Flow of $920 million. Throughout the year, we enhanced our organization for the long term by broadening our portfolio of offerings, capitalizing on diverse business models, enhancing our infrastructure, and most importantly, investing in our creative talent.”

“In Fiscal 2022, we plan to deliver an exciting array of offerings, including four immersive core releases, of which two will be from new franchises. In addition, we expect Fiscal 2022 to be our second consecutive year of Net Bookings in excess of $3 billion. With the strongest pipeline in our Company’s history, including many new releases planned for Fiscal 2023 and Fiscal 2024, we will be making significant investments this year to enhance our enterprise in key areas such as creative talent, IT, and other infrastructure. As we continue to grow our business, we believe that we will achieve sequential growth in Fiscal 2023 and establish new record levels of operating results over the next few years.”

From the presentation slides, we learn that 62 games are planned for the next three years. Below you can see a breakdown by category. Later in the call, president Karl Slatoff mentioned that one of the two new franchises is by Gearbox Software, and clarified that some of the games in the pipeline may not make it to release.

Chief financial officer Lainie Goldstein mentioned that most releases will come in the second half of the fiscal year, between October and April 2022.

Below you can check out a few highlights from Take-two’s brands.

Take-Two:

• Take-Two maintained its commitment to giving back to its communities. During fiscal year 2021, across our Company and labels, we donated nearly $20 million to provide support to approximately 200 organizations throughout the world, and we will continue these efforts. Our donations have supported charities dedicated to COVID-19 relief efforts, as well as initiatives to enhance diversity and inclusion within our industry and to help eradicate racial injustice within our communities.

Rockstar Games:

• Released new free content updates for Grand Theft Auto Online, including casino story missions, new stunt races, and more. Additionally, many new exotic vehicles were introduced, including the BF Weevil car, the Maibatsu Manchez Scout motorcycle, the Vapid Slamtruck, the Vetir military truck, the Mammoth Squaddie truck, the Dinka Verus Off-Road vehicle, and the Nagasaki Weaponized Dinghy.
• Released new free content updates for Red Dead Online including:
• Debuted the first “A New Source of Employment” missions, available for solo players and delivered via telegram.
  • Introduced the Outlaw Pass No. 5 and its new rewards, which include clothing, emotes, camp items such as flags and a canine companion, Moonshine Shack décor, horse manes and mustaches, and photo studio backdrops. Additionally, new Wheeler, Rawson & Co. Club Rank Rewards were introduced for all players to unlock, including clothing, weapon modifications, filters for the advanced camera, and a new emote.
• Throughout the fiscal year, Rockstar Games will continue to support both Grand Theft Auto Online and Red Dead Online with more content updates to keep new and returning players excited and engaged.

2K:

• Continued to expand the breadth of NBA 2K offerings with the launch of the NBA 2K21 Arcade Edition on Apple Arcade, delivering an all-new basketball simulation game experience to Apple’s video game subscription service, available on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and Mac devices.
• Acquired HookBang, LLC’s Austin-based video game division, which will become part of Visual Concepts, the distinguished, wholly-owned studio and developer of the iconic NBA 2K video game franchise. The acquired team, under the new name of Visual Concepts Austin, will expand its efforts on the NBA 2K franchise, including platform development and live services support.
• PGA TOUR 2K21 released the Clubhouse Pass Season 2 and launched its newest game mode, Divot Derby, which features a “battle golf” style competition where players can compete with up to 20 other players.
• To drive continued momentum in golf, 2K entered into an exclusive, long term partnership with Tiger Woods, one of the most iconic and celebrated figures in golf history. Woods’ partnership with 2K includes rights for his name and likeness to appear exclusively in the PGA TOUR 2K franchise, as well as any other golf games published by 2K during the partnership term. Woods will play an active role in the video game landscape as an Executive Director and consultant with PGA TOUR 2K, while 2K will also partner with Woods’ TGR Foundation, which provides award-winning STEM curricula and college-access programs to offer underserved students the tools needed to thrive in school and beyond.
• Acquired privately-held HB Studios Multimedia Ltd., developers of the critically acclaimed and commercially successful PGA TOUR 2K21, as well as The Golf Club franchise.
• During the WrestleMania 37 broadcast on April 10, 2021, 2K and Visual Concepts revealed the first teaser video for WWE 2K22, which will launch later this calendar year. The teaser video stars Rey Mysterio, a high-flying lucha libre legend and one of the most exciting and decorated Superstars in WWE history.
• WWE 2K Battlegrounds released its fifth and final roster update, which added legendary WWE names including Mr. McMahon, Paige, Ricky Steamboat, British Bulldog, Mr. Perfect, Doink the Clown, Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart and Vader.
• Introduced exciting new content for Season 7 of WWE SuperCard, including the debut of the WrestleMania 37 card tier and new features to the game. WWE SuperCard also celebrated the 25^th anniversary of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin’s WWE debut with new items and events, such as a brand- new “Stone Cold” Steve Austin cardback, Austin’s iconic jean shorts and more.
• Released the Borderlands 3: Director’s Cut add-on, which is available for purchase separately and available to download for owners of Borderlands 3 Ultimate Edition or Season Pass 2. The Director’s Cut add-on delivered a brand-new raid boss, story-driven murder mystery missions, daily and weekly challenges with unique themed rewards, and never-before-seen behind-the-scenes content. In addition, Tales from the Borderlands – a critically acclaimed, narrative-driven adventure game set within the Borderlands universe – was officially re-released on consoles and PC, and was also released on Switch for the first time, bringing an essential chapter of the Borderlands narrative to new audiences.
• Launched the Vietnam & Kublai Khan Pack and the Portugal Pack for Sid Meier’s Civilization VI, completing the full season of content from Firaxis Games’ New Frontier Pass. The packs bring new leaders, civilizations, optional game modes and more to Civilization VI.

Private Division:

• On February 10, 2021, Private Division and Obsidian Entertainment released The Outer Worlds: Peril on Gorgon, the first narrative-led expansion for the critically acclaimed, darkly humorous sci-fi RPG for Switch. The expansion was released previously for PlayStation4, Xbox One, and PC. The second and final expansion, The Outer Worlds: Murder on Eridanos, launched on March 17, 2021 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, and will launch on Switch later in calendar 2021. Both expansions are available individually or at a discount as part of The Outer Worlds Expansion Pass.
• Private Division announced that it will launch OlliOlli World this winter for Switch, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC. Developed by Roll7, this skateboarding action-platformer marks a bold new direction for the critically acclaimed franchise. Roll7 is a BAFTA and multi-award-winning London based independent studio famous for re-defining genres and creating remarkable games including OlliOlli, OlliOlli 2: Welcome to Olliwood, Laser League, and NOT A HERO.

Social Point/Playdots:

• Across many of their mobile games, Social Points and Playdots launched new features, scavenger hunts, and marketing activations to drive player engagement. Both studios will continue to introduce new enhancements to their games in the coming year to further optimize the player experience.

Last, but not least, here’s a look at the upcoming games from the publisher’s brands.

If you’d like to compare, you can check out the results for the previous quarter, which were published in February.